Notre Dame's Beattie out for Saturday game vs. Denver

MLL won't add teams for 2013 but still plans to expand to 16

March 15, 2012|From Inside Lacrosse magazine

•Harvard senior long-stick midfielder Dan DiMaria has a torn anterior cruciate ligament and will be out the rest of the year, a source confirmed to Inside Lacrosse. DiMaria intends to graduate from Harvard this year as scheduled and using his remaining year of eligibility at either Johns Hopkins or an Atlantic Coast Conference school.

The loss is a big blow to Harvard's defense; DiMaria had a total of eight ground balls and five caused turnovers in two games this season.

Notre Dame senior attackman Nick Beattie remains out of the lineup as the Fighting Irish prepare for Denver on Sunday. After scoring Notre Dame's first goal of the 2012 season, Beattie was injured against Duke in the season opener and has not returned since. He appeared to suffer a knee or leg injury during the game against the Blue Devils.

"He's week-to-week at this point," Notre Dame spokesman Sean Carroll said. "But he will not play against Denver."

Major League Lacrosse will not add new teams for the 2013 season, but its overarching goal of expanding from eight to 16 teams by the end of the decade remains intact, commissioner Dave Gross confirmed to Inside Lacrosse on Thursday.

Gross echoed that new expansion teams would be given proper lead time to put them in a better spot to succeed. If all the details for a team are not decided by early in the year prior to expansion, it will be pushed back a year. "We are not going to expand for expansion's sake," Gross said.

As for what markets will make up the eventual 16-team format, the league has sights set out west.

"I dont think we've ever hidden our desire to be back out west. When go back west, it has to be as a two-phased attack," he said. "We can't just put two teams out west to be along with Denver. It's really going to have to be a four-team plan. Not all four teams at one time, so before we add another team there, we have to have all four markets ready and mapped out."

Other markets of focus have been narrowed to Boca Raton, Fla., where the MLL All-Star Game will be played June 30 as a form of market testing; Atlanta; and Dallas.

Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association teams held serve in the latest Under Armour High School Power Rankings. Calvert Hall, which beat Lovett (Ga.) and St. Mark's (Texas), remains at No. 1. Loyola is at No. 13, Gilman at No. 15 and Boys' Latin at No. 16.